TTNG: Book 3
by Firefly457
Summary: At 17, I was supposed to take over for my father, Nightwing aka Robin. At 17, the man who killed my best friend returned to my life and killed a part of it. At 17, the man destroyed the Teen Titans, and my life, forever.
1. O n e

**Disclaimer: Teen Titans © Warner Bros & DC Comics. This series, on the other hand, is my brain child.**

**A/N: This is the second time I've rewritten this story, but I've got some fresh ideas and I'm open to ideas, so feel free to give me your opinions—as long as they are not flames. I consider myself to be **_**extremely **_**fortunate to have one of the BEST Teen Titan Betas on the site, so I'm pretty optimistic about this story.**

O n e

I sat in the park and let the wind blow through my long black hair. August was a beautiful month in Jump City, even I had to admit it. Ever since early June, I had gotten into the habit of going jogging in the middle of the afternoon. I wanted my boyfriend, Xavier, to come with me, but he was always busy or not feeling well. I couldn't really blame him. Xavier had XODD (xenothium overdosage disorder), which meant that xenothium, a popular party drug, was surging through his veins. He was slowly dying and no matter what treatments he got or what medicines he took, he would always _be _dying. The thought terrified me and kept me awake at night, but Xavier had had this disease since before he was born. He was actually used to it by now.

Despite everything, I was genuinely happy with my life now…but something was missing. It was the strangest thing. Whenever I was in the park jogging, I subconsciously jogged by the playground every day. I found myself looking at the kids playing and I felt something tug at my heart. Watching them captivated me. I felt jealous of the parents. I was scared of having kids, yet I wanted to have them. I wanted to believe that my father's genes—his hatred and anger—wouldn't be passed down to my own children. It didn't matter anyway. I never wanted to be with anyone besides Xavier. Xavier couldn't have kids. His XODD would be passed to and any child that I carried. He didn't want to take that risk. So, I was never going to have children of my own.

I got up and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my new iPod and inserted my headphones I took off and started jogging out of the park. I kept my music low and jogged almost all the way back to Titans Tower. I stopped at the keypad that opened up the bridge that connected the pier with the island the Tower resided on. My top was drenched with sweat and my hair was damp.

"Have a nice run?"

"Xavier!" I turned around and ran into my boyfriend's arms. He had been gone most of the summer to New York with his adoptive mother and we hadn't had a chance to talk much since and while he was gone. When we separated I gave him a quick once over. He had put on a little bit of weight, which didn't make him look as scrawny and anorexic as he did when he left. "You look great!"

"You've…you've lost weight." Xavier frowned. At sixteen years old, I should have been around one hundred and twelve pounds. I was only ninety-two pounds. My father had me on a strict diet and exercise program. I was Nightwing's daughter. When he retired, it was up to me to replace him. That was a life that I was dreading and in only nine months, after I graduated, I would be sent off to Japan to begin my training under my father's old master.

"I've started jogging," I said, "nothing serious."

"Yeah, because it's not like you skin and bones already." Xavier's tone was harsh and sarcastic. Chills shot down my spine. It was times when he acted like this that he reminded me of my abusive father.

"Don't talk like that. You sound like him." I said.

"Sorry." Xavier's frown deepened. "I just worry about you all the time."

"I don't want anything to happen to us. For all I know, this could be our last time together." I wrapped my arms around my middle. "Xavier, I'm leaving right after graduation."

"So soon?" Xavier lost his color. "No, no, no! Mari, you can't leave!"

"I don't have a choice!" I moaned miserably and knelt down. "Xavier, I'm only going to be seventeen in December! I won't be eighteen until _after_ I'm supposed to leave for Japan."

I moved away from him and sat down on the railing of the pier. I put my head in my hands. It felt as if the future was gripping its hands tighter and tighter around my throat with every passing second. Xavier moved over and sat down next to me and gently put his arms around my waist. I laid my head on his shoulder and let his warmth surround me.

"I'll find a way out of this, baby." Xavier said stroking my face gently with his hand. "Don't worry. If I have to get us fake documents that say that we're eighteen, we'll do it."

"Promise?" I asked.

"Of course." Xavier nodded. He kissed my cheek. "Nothing bad will happen to you."

I just wish he had been right.


	2. T w o

**Disclaimer: Teen Titans does not belong to me, but TTNG and its original characters does. Just saying.**

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated. My computer crashed again (commences into long story). Here's the new chapter 2.**

T w o

I bit my lip and sat up straight. School was harder than ever in my senior year. Xavier and I had only one class together which took a toll on us. It became the only time that I ever got to see him because he began taking his duties as Red X more seriously and began spending every spare moment at the X's warehouse. I hated it, but it wasn't like I had a choice or say in the matter. I spent as much time at the warehouse as I could, but I rarely spent time with Xavier. I guess that's where all our problems started. As I sit here and think about everything, I guess this lead to one of the worst, yet best, mistakes of my life. It led to Daniel.

In September of my senior year of high school, a new X came from Sacramento. His name was Jason Hienman. Jason was fairly attractive. He was of medium-height with dark jet black hair and dark green eyes. He had tattoos on his arms and back, but I never saw any when I first met him. He was a sad soul though. He was born to parents that didn't understand him or his gift– the amazing power to see the future. Unfortunately, they restricted him from using his power and even punished him. Everyone knows what happens when a child has an upbringing like that.

When a child is born with superpowers, they need to be trained by someone or else they will have problems in the future. Take Xavier and me for example. I was trained by my mother and Xavier was trained by his negligent father. However, when no one trained the child, they never learn how to get control of their powers. Jason was a prime example. By the time he was fifteen, his visions got so out of control that he had to be placed into a mental institution. There he was able to gain some control of his visions… but not much. By the age of twenty-three, he still couldn't control his visions very well, but he could hide them.

All the girls in the warehouse thought that Jason was very attractive. Even I wasn't immune to his good looks or charm. I won't deny that there were times when I caught myself looking at him everyone _once_ in awhile. I didn't realize that Jason did have his eyes on a certain someone, someone who didn't deserve him, someone who already had a boyfriend, someone that was extremely unlucky. Me.

It was a normal Monday afternoon and I found myself perched on the edge of Xavier's desk, pouting while he was buried in his computer. Normally on Monday, he would work on his computer and enter in data from heists the previous week. This Monday was different. He got up and told me that he was going to do a couple quick heists around the city and then he would be back.

"I know what a couple little heists are for you!" I frowned. "You'll be gone all night!"

"Aw, Mari," Xavier pouted. "I won't be gone too long. I promise, just a couple hours." He gave me his best smile and gently placed his hand under my chin. "You staying here?"

"I suppose," I sighed. "It'll be better than another four hour training session."

"I love you," he said tenderly. I blushed a violent red.

"I love you too." I replied. "Just don't keep me waiting."

Xavier smirked with pride and then disappeared to change into his Red X suit. I wandered downstairs into the first floor and sat on a crate.

"Oi, Grayson!" I looked up and saw one of Xavier's best friends, Tiny, approach me. We both hated each other and only tolerated each other for Xavier though I knew he would do anything to get Xavier to dump me.

"What do you want, Tiny?" I asked wearily.

"Where's X?" Tiny asked. "We're running late."

"He's getting ready, he'll be down soon." I looked up at where Xavier's "office" was. He appeared moments later.

"Ready?" Xavier asked Tiny.

"It's about time."

"See ya, babe," Xavier said giving me a hug and kissing me before he pulled his mask down over his face. I said my goodbyes and sat down on my crate again.

Luckily, I had homework to keep myself busy. I was taking a trigonometry class which was extremely difficult. The homework was sixty problems almost every night. Luckily, I had Rachel (aka Raven) to help me. I was halfway done when I saw someone approach me. Jason Heinman sat down on the crate near mine and looked over at my work.

"I always hated trig," he said. "Need any help?"

"Nah, I think I've got it, but thanks, Jason." I replied. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I would hate to have X's job," Jason said. "I wouldn't want to do all that work."

"He's a workaholic," I said slowly and defensively, "but he does a lot of good work for people."

Jason laughed, but didn't say anything. He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. I couldn't help but look at him. He looked so peaceful. I couldn't help but think that it had been forever since I had seen Xavier look so peaceful. I closed my notebook and placed it next to my crate. Then, I felt Jason's eyes bore into me. I looked at him and saw him look at me with great affection in his eyes. It made my cheeks burn slightly. Jason put his hand on mine and gently pulled my face towards his. I gasped and jumped up and ran from the room.

Back in those days, when I had a problem, I ran away. I should have done something. I should have told Jason no or reported him to Xavier. I should have left that warehouse then and there and never return while Jason was still stationed there. I should have done _something_…but instead, I did nothing—nothing but run away.


End file.
